Intense fighting, sequesters, and threats of shutdown are what many people associate with the current government in the United States. If it seems that this tension has become more amplified, that's because it has. Since 2010, when Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate, gridlock in government has been even more pervasive and damaging to enacting legislative change. Some scholars point to divided government, a situation where one party controls the White House and the other controls one or both houses of Congress, as an important source of partisan conflict. But one researcher argues that disagreements over federal spending priorities may have a significant effect on the rise in party polarization over the last few decades as well. Eric Svensen, a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, is working to understand why government often seems incapable of solving many issues facing the country. He's analyzing how spending affects partisan conflict in Washington. To please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/rock-em-sock-em-politics.